Category: Lifestyle

Hello Everyone!!! First of all, let me say I am so so sorry for making you guys wait for another post for so bloody long! I haven’t been the greatest blogger of late and for that I truly apologise! I think I might have already touched upon my reasons for not blogging in my last post but if it turns out I haven’t and I’m lying like a right porker then I’ll explain again now before I go into the exciting (and titular) news!

First of all, as you guys know I’ve been studying for a Masters degree in TV and Radio Scriptwriting and my life kinda got taken over by finishing my last assignment of the year. I wasn’t feeling particularly amazing about my writing after getting negative comments off my supervisor for the assignment throughout the entire second semester. That plus the fact I started working as a teacher full time made me so stressed that I probably had a zillion breakdowns a week. I swear I would come home from work and just burst into tears at the prospect of another evening doing work I’d probably fail anyway. Nevertheless, I churned it out night after night (meaning any other form of writing, such as this blog was abandoned) and managed to pass with an amazing grade and some pretty fantastic comments off the very same supervisor who made me feel like shit (I swear one of his comments were “wow, I’m very impressed” and I nearly exploded with happiness!) and then on top of that I had my stand up comedy gigs. Now since my last stand up comedy course in April and the brilliant 7 min set I did, I have done another 2 gigs. One, which went amazingly well and the other, which just makes me want to crawl in a ball.

The one that I’d rather not talk about was for a national Stand Up Comedy Competition and I had to travel all the way to Leicester for it. Needless to say, my lack of experience in the stand up circuit didn’t do me any favours on that night and I was just a bit like a little fish with loads of sharks. All experience though!

After that gig, my confidence was a bit gone which is why it took me about two months to even attempt another. I did the Sunday 5 minute slot at Hot Water Comedy Club in Liverpool and the audiences responded really well to my material. Since the competition I had written an entirely new set and had worked on honing my stage presence. All in all, it was a gig that really helped reenergise my love for stand up and got me back on track for performing so it just shows you that you can’t let a bad thing knock you down you just have to keep trying and carrying on! An attitude I will carry on with from now on!

Anyways! So that’s basically why I’ve been incognito for the past couple of months! I know it’s a long ramble but I just thought I’d explain to you guys in case you were wondering. And now for the exciting news….I’M OFF TRAVELLING!!! Yay!!! ﻿

I’m so excited for this summer adventure me and my boyfriend have planned (completely last minute might I add).

After years and years of saying we’d go interrailing together we’re finally fucking doing it! We just thought after the hectic and hard year we’ve had (house decorating, career stuff, family issues, moving) that we deserved a treat and what better way to treat ourselves than with an amazing three weeks in Europe. We’re gonna be staying with Jakes (the boyfriends) family in a villa in Faro, Portugal for the first few days then the plan is to head to Lisbon then travel through Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Czech Republic and end in Germany! We would’ve loved to have done longer but we have two weddings we need to be back for!

So I’m back! Sorry it’s been so darn long (haven’t posted anything since April….oopsies!) the last three months have sort of been insane for me. I went full time in my teaching job which took up yonks of my time and then I had my uni assignments to hand in which was so stressful!

My stand up and writing also took up all my free time as did the various trips away I’ve been on.

Anyways I promise to catch you all up with everything that’s been going on with me with my next couple of blog posts!

I hope you’re all having a beautiful Easter weekend full of eating lots of chocolate! For this edition of my ‘Exploring Liverpool’ blog posts I thought I’d take advantage of all the amazing activity opportunities that Liverpool have on offer in the city centre, some wacky, some more laid back.

One that really appealed to me was Ghetto Golf. It’s this amazing mini golf course inside an old Brewery warehouse that’s also a bar! You interested yet?

All the holes are different, uniquely designed and brilliant. This activity is a great laugh with mates and a welcome change from the cinema, normal drinking and even just dinner. I managed to come last but I still had a fantastic evening with my friends. Anyways here’s some pics for you guys to have a looksie over! Also word of warning, some holes were slightly horror movie inspired!

Welcome to another ‘Exploring Liverpool’ post dedicated to my fabulous home city!

This week I’m focusing on food (my favourite thing!) and talking about two relatively new gorgeous food places that have taken the city by storm. I had the privilege of trying these new eateries out last weekend and I was very very impressed!

Mowgli

Mowgliis an Indian street food specialist which has the whole city talking about it. It’s that popular with us scousers that the owner has given us a second one, right in the heart of the old town!

The Eatery was founded and created by Nisha Katona and makes authentic Indian street food that is both satisfying and incredibly tasty. When I went with my boyfriend I was bit intrigued as to how the food would satisfy my own tastebuds having been used to very British curry houses. However, this place is just incredible. For starters, we decided to just try something completely out there. It was kinda like Bombay mix but wet and mushed yet it tasted sooo good! WARNING: if you guys want your typical onion bhaji’s this place will change your perception of Indian food forever.

Then for mains we split a tiffin (proper Indian dinner ware) of Bombay Fries which were completely different from burning I had ever ate before (they shit all over sweet potato fries any day) and I had a tiffin of Paneer curry style dish all to myself. Oh My God!! The paneer melted in my mouth and gave me all the feels! And to go with it, we got puri breads which are like traditional savoury pancakes you sort of use like a spoon. Naan will never do it justice! I swear I was in food heaven.

And I must say it was probably the best Indian I’ve had in a long time.

Artisane

Okay! Now the other amazing food place I tried, haha I swear It was like a weeekend of culinary adventures. However, it was French on Saturday.

Artisaneis an established French patisserie in another part of Liverpool and always had the most amazing reviews so you can imagine how bloody excited I was when I heard we were getting one in the heart of the city centre! All the pastries and sweet treats are made by a French chef so you know you’re getting the real deal and it’s gonna be more authentic than a croissant from Tesco. I’ll admit something really naughty here, I’ve actually eaten here three time this week that’s how much I enjoyed it! I went alone on Saturday, took the boyfriend Sunday and then treated my Nanny to a pastry on Wednesday! So bad but so worth it!

The first time I went I got a bear paw and a brownie. The bear paw was something I’d normally not try but since I was having a weekend of being adventurous I just went for it!

It tasted beautiful, it tasted like how I thought France feels. Exciting, crisp and decadent. The ultimate French pastry!

The second time I went I decided on something more savoury and got myself a Vegetable Pie. It was the nicest pie I’ve ever had! I know I say that about literally everything but this actually was. The crust to filling ratio was spot on and the pastry itself was just do crumbly and moist. Aaah!! I want another!

And finally, the last time I went I tried a spicy veggie pastry which again was just amazing and then I finally tried my fave childhood pastry, Chocolate Eclair! Now this eclair was a little different as the cream inside was chocolate cream! It was a chocolate lovers dream come true in choux pastry!

One thing I haven’t actually mentioned which is silly of me is how absolutely lovely the staff were in both places. I think this is important as nice and friendly staff really make your food experience all that more enjoyable!

And there you go! Two new food places tried and tested and given my Chelsea seal of approval! One of my absolute favourite things to do is find new places to eat so I was so happy to write and ‘research’ this blog post for this week!

I hope you guys have an amazing weekend whether you try new food places or not!

Happy Friday Everyone! I thought today if start a new series of blog posts for the weekend. As much as I enjoyed doing my ‘Friday blogs’ I felt I was just repeating myself when I did my ‘Monday blogs’ two days later! So without further ado, I welcome you to the ‘Exploring Liverpool’ blog posts that will be posted every Friday in time for your weekend!

I hope this post encourages you guys to go out and explore your own home towns a little more like I myself am aiming to do every weekend.

Last weekend, me and the boyfriend went out to explore a very historical and popular national trust site called Speke Hall.

It’s an absolutely gorgeous place that is literally just down the road! Whilst there we walked along the grounds of the hall, scared and laughed ourselves silly whilst on the interactive giants walk, messed around in the worst maze I’ve ever seen, ate the most amazing hot scones ever and jumped over quite a high muddy wall!

If there’s one film that’s been in everyone’s minds these last few days it’s gotta be ‘Beauty And The Beast’. The highly anticipated remake of the Disney classic that stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as The Beast. Me, being a absolutely huuuuge Disney fan booked tickets to see the film as soon as I physically could.

Me and my friend Tash decided to make a rather special occasion of it so I travelled down to Birmingham for some good old fashioned girl time!

After a super early train, I met with Tash and we went for Breakfast together at Yorks Cafe. A gorgeous little cafe right by New Street Station which did the most delicious sounding breakfasts. Me and Tash opted for plain, old Jam and Sourdough toast with a cheeky glass of prosecco.

After brekkie, we had a casual stroll around town and visited the beautiful Birmingham Cathedral. The lovely Dean had a little chat with us about the cathedral and she let us go right up to the stunning stained glass windows. After the Cathedral we made our way to the Art Gallery and checked out the Edwardian Tea Rooms, the architecture and design of the building made me feel like I was on The Titanic, it was so surreal.

After our cultural exploring we decided to get a few cheeky drinks before the film. We headed to The Alchemist for our first cocktail. I absolutely love the style of this bar and it’s menu is so original. You don’t just order a drink, you order a science experiment! I opted for the colour changing drink, which you pour yourself. It’s insane, you put the mixtures and all the dry ice froths over!

After this, we then checked out The Jekyll and Hyde Pub for yet another cocktail! It was such a quirky and funky pub with a gin parlour upstairs and an insane Alice in Wonderland style beer garden!

After all this exploring we were ready to sit back and relax. So we headed to the cinema. Tash recommended we The Empire Cinema in The Mailbox as it had sofas and waiter service meaning all’s we’d have to do is sit back and enjoy the movie in utter luxury. I really enjoyed the sofa seats in the cinema, it made the whole cinema experience so much more relaxing! Even the toilets were amazing, they reminded me of the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter!

The film itself was absolutely gorgeous! All members of the cast were outstanding and despite my reservations over Emma Watson as Belle, she was brilliant! I was worried how the remake would match the original but it did it proud. A truly magical and enchanting Disney musical that was so stunning it looked like I was watching moving art!

So in true Beauty and the Beast style I’ll end my blog with these words, “Tale as Old as Time, Song as Old as Rhyme, Beauty and the Beast”

On Monday I happened to attend my first ever BBC Writers Room event. It was specifically for scriptwriters in the industry and was absolutely fantastic as it gave me so much information and motivation to just get on my arse and write!

It was a good opportunity to network with brooms BBC people, such as the head of the northern writers room and other writers. It was also a chance to have a sneaky look inside the BBC offices, which were so cool! Even if I did have to have an airport style security check before I got in! And I also got to wear a badge with my name on which made me feel so professional!

The event was a Q&A with writer Sally Abbott whose written everything from Eastenders and Casualty to her own award winning afternoon drama called The Coroner. She gave us so much information including how she started out in the industry herself and how she goes about her writing process.

For me personally it was so motivating to be in a room full of writers and inspire each other. Also, Sally’s experience and expertise was invaluable advice and guidance which has really give me the kick up my arse I needed for my writing.